Self Employment and a flexible schedule

Yesterday I took the time off from my business responsibilities to take care of some homeschool responsibilities.  My daughter as part of her homeschool co-op is part of a Frontier Girls troop.  I am not the founder or leader of this troop, but I have been helping out this year as an extra pair of hands and eyes.  Wednesday to Thursday was our yearly campout.  I was unable to attend the overnight part due to other family responsibilities and was called home early to help out with an older daughter who is having a very difficult 1st pregnancy and tri-mester.

The part of the campout I got to participate in was a nature hike in First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  We had 22 children on this hike with 4 adults to keep things under control.  We had purchased a guide so we got to learn all sorts of new things along this hike that I hadn't known before.  It was a good time.

This is the reason that I do not have a traditional job.  Being self employed in the direct marketing field allows me to have something to actively work on for my own well being while being available for my family whenever they may need me.

having a flexible schedule does not mean that I do not have a schedule.  I very much do.  I spend time daily doing things to promote my business, serve customers or work on developing mu business and leadership skills.

I learned many years ago that if your flexible schedule isn't planned out a bit then you will never do anything toward your business.  Sometimes that means that I plan things around my work schedule and sometimes that means that I plan work around my family schedule.

Setting aside planned office hours when you have your own business is imperative to success.  Those hours do not have to be at the same time everyday, but you do need to have them consistently on a weekly basis.

In direct sales I do have the flexibility of finding unexpected opportunities when I am out and about, but when you are in sales or owner of a company you are on the lookout for and take advantage of whatever opportunities you find.  My husband who is being groomed to rake over his father's industrial size pressure washer business is doing this all the time as well.

Being self employed does allow you to be flexible, but if you find your flexible being never, you are not running a business.

Professional Development for Business Building

Everyone starts somewhere with a limited knowledge.  When it comes to starting and growing a business this is no exception.  Even if you have a college PHD in business there are still things that you can learn when it comes to business.

I have been involved in direct sales for over 20 years off and on.  That being said the biggest thing I have learned recently is how much I don't know about my chosen field.  Things have changed so much over the development in the field of direct sales that there is a constant stream of new and innovative ideas being introduced.

There are several avenues that I have chosen to pursue in order to gain knowledge.  First of all there are a lot of books both classic and contemporary that are filled with great nuggets of knowledge.  I have set a goal of reading 30 minutes of personal or professional enrichment materials 5 days a week as part of my regular business activities.

There are mastermind and meetup groups.  This is where you meet up with like minded individuals and share ideas while networking and expanding your sphere of influence.  This is a great tool because not only do you learn new things but you gain valuable business contacts.

I also have access to company offered trainings, meetings, leadership and conference calls.  If you are with a direct sales company, these tools are invaluable to learning about your products, how your company works and what specials and incentives are being offered.

I have looked at various webinars and coaches and have even signed up for a few of them.  I find that both of them can offer tidbits of information that are readily available elsewhere, but that information is just the hook to get you to pay for a product or service that they offer promising more information or leads.  I personally avoid them unless I get a recommendation from someone else.

The final avenue that I have found is online courses.  There are many sites such as Coursera or Open 2 Learning that offer free online enrichment courses.  I am currently taking one on Early Childhood Learning to supplement my knowledge and better market my Fundanoodle Learning Products.

The bottom line is that no one knows everything about their field.  New and innovative ideas are being brought to light all the time.  Figure out what you think you need to know and seek after that knowledge.  You may find that you know less than you thought.

Taking steps to improve your skill set in your chosen profession will only help you to build your business in the end. Invest in yourself now for a better ability to reach your goals and dreams in the future.

Summer Brain Drain

There was a few years ago that I started hearing about how children lose a part of what they learned during the school year over the summer.  At the time I thought this was a whole lot of garbage.  When I was in school the first few weeks in school were always boring as we went over things we had gone over the year before.  I never really lost learning over the summer so I thought that this was the way it had to be with everyone else.

So this is where I had to step aside and remember, my childhood wasn't like everyone else's.  My parents were teachers so my summer was always filled with reading and other learning activities.  The library was a favorite place to go and then we were always doing some kind of craft or simple and math drills.  This was a normal part of life for me.  As a result my brain stayed engaged over the summer and I didn't suffer from summer brain drain.

Summer can still be a very fun time even when you are doing learning activities.  It doesn't take hours a day of learning activities to prevent that summer brain drain.  All it takes is setting aside regular reading time daily.  Every library has a summer reading program that is free and offers incentives for children who read.  20 minutes a day is all that you need to keep their reading skills current.

Having your kids keep a journal of their summer activities will help them with and beginning of year "what did you do over the summer?"  assignments as well as keep their writing and thinking skills up to date.  Many libraries have entertainment programs where there is some kind of stem presentation and activities.

If you look around you can find many free but fun summer learning activities that you can have your child participate in. Even having your child help you bake can help with math.  Taking 20 minutes to read and 20 minutes to do work out of a summer bridge workbook along with some fun learning activities is all that it will take to prevent summer brain drain from happening to your child.

Self discipline versus instant gratification

Have you heard of the marshmallow test?  You know the one that puts little kids in the room with a marshmallow and then are told if they can wait 15 minutes they can have 5.  The study goes on to show that those who were able to wait those 15 minutes are more likely to be able to succeed in life.

So I have a few marshmallows in my life.  Things like sugar, reading, being lazy etc.  These things give me instant gratification right now.  What does this instant gratification give me?  It gives me a sweet taste right now but a gain in weight and health problems later.  Reading allows me to disappear into another world right now, but it gives me a messy house, people at arms length and poor interpersonal skills.  Being lazy gives me pleasure right now, but it gets me no where in my future.

What does self discipline give me.  Avoiding sugar, carbs and exercising is a chore right now, but later on it gives me energy, weight loss and better health.  Putting down the books until after the work is done gets all my chores done, puts my focus on my business venture and helps me to connect better with people.  Having a plan and sticking to it even when I don't feel like it helps me to accomplish my goals and dreams.

There are times when I want that instant gratification and I find myself ignoring that self discipline that will help me be the person I want to be.  I sometimes lose sight of what is more important, the right now verses the desired future.

I know that if I do the grueling work right now that I will be able to slack off later and have the kind of life I want to have, but sometimes I lose patience and want that ability right now.

I am human.  I may know what I want and much like those kids in the study, the time between right now and the promised future seems so far away.  So I face each new day determined to do what needs to be done for the desired future.  There are days I do well and there are days I don't do so well.  Until I can get consistent and find better ways to motivate myself I will struggle with my goals.

In the meantime I am working on  making my dreams so real to me that I don't mind setting aside that instant gratification.  I was one of those kids who was able to wait the 15 minutes easily so what happened to me?  Life!  It got in the way and I am overcoming all the damage that has been incurred by my environment.  I am trying to give up the good for the better.

Are you struggling with self discipline?  You are not alone.  There are so many people facing the same struggles.  As long as you keep on working on attaining that self discipline you will eventually get there. Even if it takes your whole life, Don't you think it will be worth it?

Book Review: Find Your Extraordinary

Today's review is the book Find Your Extraordinary by Jessica Dilullo Herrin COE and Founder of the Stella & Dot Family Brands.

I do a lot of reading, but one of the things that I try to do is read 30 minutes of personal or professional Development material on a daily basis.

This book has some great inspirational stories and chronicles a unique business building journey.  There are some great advice and tips in this book and I walked away with some motivation to build my own business.

What I liked about this book.  Many people who write books like this do so with an eye to recruiting for their company.  Yes the Author talked about her company but not in a way that left you thinking this was marketing material.

What I didn't like about this book.  Especially toward the end I was left feeling that the author was zealous about political hot button women's issues.  Although I do like how she handled the issues she believed that she faced, I wasn't appreciative about her belief that there were issues to begin with.

I believe very much in the traditional roles of women and motherhood.  Yes I am working to build a business, but I will do so at a much slower pace as my 6 year old is very much my priority.  I agree with her point that there is no such thing as a superwomen and that women can't do it all, but I disagree with the solution to that problem.

If the women's rights issues had been left out, this book would have had a wider audience appeal, but by putting these opinions in her book the author has limited the audience to working women.

This is a book where there is both good and bad.  Read it keeping that in mind so you can take away the good business advice.

Serving versus Selling

In Direct Sales many of us have big dreams and goals.  We want to make x amount of money every month or we want to make to such and such level in the company.  As we work to make these goals we talk to people, we look for places we can reach new people and we promote each special and sale as it comes.

Have you ever walked into a store with big ticket items for sale and were pounced on by a salesperson before you even started looking?    Did this person listen to what you were looking for and direct you accordingly or try to sell you the most expensive item they had?  How would you rate your experience based on how they approached you.? Now put yourself in that salesperson's shoes.  How do you approach your potential customers and recruits?

When you are concerned with how many recruits and sales you have it is easy to focus on what you want to have happen.  When you do this you are selling your product or opportunity.  You are pushing your own agenda and ultimately focused on yourself.  Most people don't like this approach.  There is a reason that used car salesmen are stereotyped in TV and media.  This portrayal is usually not in a very good light either.

When you listen to your potential customers and recruits and show them how your products, services or opportunity will benefit them then you are serving them instead of selling to them.  People are much more open to what you have to offer when they feel like they have been listened to.  By changing the focus from your goals to their needs you will find a much more receptive audience.

When people are more receptive to what you have to offer, you will get farther in your goals because more people will be willing to become a customer, recruit or refer others to you.

The difference between selling and serving is listening.  When you serve you listen and fulfill needs.  When you are selling you are focused on your own desires.

How you approach your business is up to you, but think about what you are looking for in a consumer experience.  If you don't appreciate being sold to the likelyhood is that your target market will not either.  Just something to think about.

Becoming Genuine

I grew up in a turbulent and stressful environment.  As a result I spent much of my life arranging my life as to not make things worse.  I did stand up for myself and for what I believed, but I tried to be everything to as many people as I could so that my life went much smoother than it did at home.

The end result of my reaction to my environment was that as my life progressed I lost more of the real me.  So much so that I began to isolate myself and insulate myself from anything that would cause discomfort.

There were times in my life that I would make an attempt to make changes, but after awhile I would revert back to the person I had become and dig myself a little deeper into my isolation.  It just seemed like I got so little benefit from so much work and discomfort.

I want this time to be different.  Changing the way one thinks is not the easiest thing to do.  I struggle to continue to find the motivation I need to continue doing the things that will help facilitate the desired changes I want.

So what changes do I want to make in my thought processes and lifestyle.  First of all I am constantly battling the negative thoughts that come into my head.  Changing from thinking negatively about every little thing that goes wrong is a very large challenge for me.

Being genuine with others is another challenge that I have.  I am learning to listen more than I talk and trying hard not to insert myself into everyone else's conversations unless invited.  I am trying hard not to turn the conversations toward myself.  This is how I have interacted with people in the past.  Its not that I am conceited, its that I am trying to identify with others by showing I have had similar challenges and experiences.  Unfortunately this comes off as being self- centered.

I find it more easy to be genuine when I write than when I am speaking with a group of people.  Being vulnerable and asking for help is not natural for me since I have spent years not relying on other people and just being a survivor.  This is the reason that I have no close friends.  To others I appear closed off and so others are not willing to make the effort to get to know me better.  When my reality is that I care so much for others that I isolated myself to prevent myself from getting too involved in other people's problems when there was no reciprocated friendship.

My genuine self is nervous and scared that I am not likable and that my tendency to prize facts over feelings drives people away.  Its not so much that I am left brained, but that facts are easier and cleaner to deal with than emotions. If asked how a painting makes me feel I will look at you like you are nuts.  But if you ask me how a story made me feel I will gladly let you know.

Yes I do have some serious defense mechanisms to overcome, but I am diligently working on them.  Identifying those mechanisms is only a fraction of the battle.  Figuring out how to abandon them is the larger part.